“I have set the LORD always before me: because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved”   (Psalm 16:8).

 

Having repented of our sins and received Christ as our Savior we do not suddenly become perfect. We all fail far more times than we should, and there is always a reason for it. Sometimes it is because we run ahead of the Lord. Other times we lag behind the Lord, or turn back from the Lord, we backslide. The prevention of this foolishness is found in our text. When we set the Lord before us we avoid failure and defeat. Spurgeon wrote:

 

“This is the way to live. With God always before us, we shall have the noblest companionship, the holiest example, the sweetest consolation, and the mightiest influence. This must be a resolute act of the mind. “I have set,” and it must be maintained as a set and settled thing. Always to have an eye to the LORD’s eye and an ear for the LORD’s voice–this is the right state for the godly man. His God is near him, filling the horizon of his vision, leading the way of his life, and furnishing the theme of his meditation. What vanities we should avoid, what sins we should overcome, what virtues we should exhibit, what joys we should experience if we did indeed set the LORD always before us! Why not? This is the way to be safe. The LORD being ever in our minds, we come to feel safety and certainty because of His being so near. He is at our right hand to guide and aid us; and hence we are not moved by fear, nor force, nor fraud, nor fickleness. When God stands at a man’s right hand, that man is himself sure to stand. Come on, then, ye foemen of the truth! Rush against me like a furious tempest, if ye will. God upholds me. God abides with me. Whom shall I fear?”

“…he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.”— Heb. 11:27
Moses was a remarkable man. However, the only thing that made him anything more than ordinary was God. As with anyone, everything great about him can only be attributed to the greatness of God, and he knew it. Unlike some folks, Moses was well aware of his weaknesses. But he was unaware of his possibilities. It was only after he met God at the burning bush on the backside of the desert (Ex. 3) that things began to change.

Faced with failure he requested to see God (Ex. 33:12-18) and was given a glimpse of God’s glory. His problem was just like that of many— rather than live by faith they want to see something. Although given a glimpse of glory, God made it clear that Moses could not see Him and live. As we think of all the great accomplishments of Moses we can sum it all up by saying that his success was due to his awareness that God was invisibly involved in his life.

Such is the case with all the heroes of the faith. No Christian succeeds on his own. As Jesus said, “…without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). There is only one thing that makes us successful, and Paul spoke of it in Phil. 2:13 “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure”. Although we cannot see Him, God is at work in our lives. Therefore Paul could say, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil. 4:13). That was the message he wanted to convey to the Philippians ( Phil. 1:6). He said basically the same thing to the Thessalonians–“Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it“(1 Thess. 5:24). And that’s what I want you to see.

When it seems that everything is against you, you need to understand that God is working behind the scenes. That is just as true of you as it was with Joseph, Moses, and Daniel. God is invisibly involved in every detail of your life. He is involved in the ordinary, mundane, boring, tiring things of your life. You don’t need dreams, visions, and miracles. Whether you see Him in action or not, He is at work. As Spurgeon said, “When you can’t see His hand–trust His heart”. God is at work whether you are aware of it or not, but living in the awareness of that fact makes all the difference in the world. It is by this that we are enabled to succeed (Heb. 12:1-3; 2 Cor. 3:18; 4:18). The song writer was right when he said,”There is an unseen hand”. Keep that fact in mind every moment of every day and it will get you through the day–whatever it holds!

In 1867, Walter Chalmers Smith wrote this first verse to a hymn:

Immortal, invisible, God only wise, 

In light inaccessible hid from our eyes, 

Most blessed, most glorious, 

The Ancient of Days, 

Almighty, victorious— 

Thy great name we praise.

“I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD.” – Psalms 71:16
Do you ever feel that you can’t go on? You know you should, but your feelings tell you to stop or to go back. The mountain is too high, the valley is too low, the storm is too rough, the enemy is too tough, and you are just too weak to try any longer. Perhaps this scripture and these words from the pen of James Smith will encourage you to keep going.

“Our own weakness would dismay us, but God’s strength is offered to us; in His light we see, and in His strength we work. We have duties to perform, difficulties to encounter, and foes to overcome; let us therefore go in the strength of the Lord.

It is promised to us, and may be received by us; we must ask it of God, we must expect it in faith, and go forth believing that He is faithful who hath promised. Never let us attempt any thing in our own strength; if we do, we shall be sure to fail; let us first take up God’s promise, rely on His veracity, and so go forth to duty, conflict, and danger. Then the battle is not ours, but the Lord’s; then we are sure of success, succour, and victory.

The Lord will then be our strength and song; our refuge and certain salvation. His strength is made perfect in weakness, and His grace is glorified in the unworthy.

Let us not fear, let us not loiter, let us not despond, but let us go in the strength of the Lord, and we shall be more than conquerors. He giveth courage to the faint, and to those who have no might He increaseth strength.

I know the God in whom I trust,
The arm on which I lean;
He will my Saviour ever be,
Who has my Saviour been;
Strong in His strength my foes I face,
Assured of victory through His grace.”

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name” Psalm 100:4. “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.”  – Colossians 3:15

If worry is the opposite of faith, then thanksgiving is the expression of faith—in fact, the highest expression. You say, “I don’t know if I have as much to thank God for as other people.” Well, the apostle Paul was in a filthy Philippian jail awaiting possible beheading when he wrote, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.”

You see, God has blessed you. You may not think so because you’re measuring blessings by the barometer of health, wealth, and happiness. You say, “Oh, those are blessings!” Not always. Some people are cursed with wealth. Some people don’t know how to use health. And happiness keeps some people from seeking the Lord. 

My friend, let me tell you what blessings we have. “Blessed be the Lord who daily loadeth us with benefits…” (Psalm 68:19).  God has loaded your wagon. How often? Every day! “It is of the LORD’S mercies we’re not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning…” (Lamentations 3:22-23). Every day you wake up to blessings. Thank Him for spiritual blessings and thank Him for simple blessings: good, clean water. Enough food. Shelter. The simple things. We are so blessed.

I have noticed as a pastor that unthankful people are never happy people. They’re filled bitterness, fear, negativism, selfishness and self-pity.

Refuse to worry, but carry everything to God in prayer. Rejoice in the presence of the Lord. Rely upon the power of the Lord. Reflect on the provision of the Lord. Rest in the peace of the Lord. Do everything with thanksgiving.  –Adrian Rogers

“Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD. “–Ps. 150

I recently wrote, ” For the Christian giving thanks should be as natural as breathing”. Our text is a confirmation of that statement. God deserves and demands praise from “every thing that hath breath”(vs. 6). If you are able to breath you are obligated to praise God– the One who made heaven and earth. He gives us breath, so how can we refuse Him? You shouldn’t be able to make it through this sentence without praising God. Why? That is explained in verse two:
— “for his mighty acts”= His Acts- what He has done.
— “according to his excellent greatness”= His Attributes- who He is.

Perhaps this is a good place for a warning. I’m convinced that some people are praise centered, but not God-centered. They love the excitement of praising God, but do not actually love God. If you examine the evidences of love you will see that they are lacking, yet they very emotional and vocal during the worship service– if the particular song suits them. But true praise is focused on God Himself. Anyone can say, “Praise the Lord”, but that doesn’t mean they do. Some are focused on the gifts rather than the Giver. They are more concerned about what they get out of the service than they are about what God gets from it. True praise is always directed toward God.

Notice that this Psalm also instructs us as to where and how we can praise God. To sum it up–whether you sing, play an instrument, whistle a tune, clap your hands, dance a jig, or whisper a prayer it can be a means of praise. Whether you are in the church sanctuary, your home, place of business, hospital, or a prison you can praise the Lord, and should. Sometimes we worry too much about tradition and formality. I love the story I read about a fellow who hadn’t been raised in church and wasn’t familiar with religious jargon. After he was baptized, he came up out of the water clapping his hands, shouting, “Hot dog, hot dog, hot dog!” He was so excited about God that he wasn’t worried about what people might think. “Well”, you say, “I’m not the emotional type. My personality is quiet and reserved”. Really? How quiet and reserved are you during the “Super-bowl” game? Our text tells us to praise God with all we’ve got. Unless we put something into it God gets nothing out of it, and if He isn’t pleased our “worship” is worthless.